When he wakes, his head is throbbing.
It doesn't hurt, but it's noticeable.
His brain isn't even working properly, all he knows for sure is there's a subconcious sense of something not being right. He doesn't know what it is, he just knows that he's awakening in abnormal circumstances.
His eyes fluttering open, he groaned and slowly began shift in his seat.
Squinting, his vision was blurred for a few moments, shutting his eyes and keeping them closed for a few more moments.
He stayed like that, shifting in his seat with his eyes closed for a few more moments until he heard it.
The sound of the intense wind right outside his windows.
The sound was hellish, producing a deafening roar. It was so noisy and had it not been for his intense state of confusion and exhaustion, he would have covered his ears.
It caused him to suddenly jolt up in his seat, sitting upright, his hands gripping the edges of the seat as he snapped his head around in search of the noise.
To his surprise, when he looked out the window he was met with the same green void spinning around in a strange vortex.
Gasping, his eyes widened at the sight.
This was really happening. He couldn't believe it.
His mind was racing, spinning with frantic thoughts.
He felt as if he was floating.
Though it felt as if the storm was getting more and more violent.
Looking around the vehicle, he squinted as some of the objects in the car began floating around, flying down the car, giving him an idea of how bad this storm really was.
What really caught his eye, however, was a familar book.
It was "The Road to Oz", and it looked like the same book Tommy would carry around all the time.
"Huh?"
Before he could question it any further, he felt the winds began to swirl faster and faster, causing him to grip harder at the seat as he felt his body losing attachment.
"Woah, hey!"
But the winds swirling so quickly and the car beginning to spin around faster within the twister, he couldn't hold on any longer, causing him to slip away from the seat, sent flying down to the bottom seats of the car.
"Ah!" Bryson exclaimed in surprise, his body slamming against the car. "Ooof!"
Tumbling down onto the bottom of the car, he scrambled around for something to grab onto, but with the intense and quick nature of the wind caused him to slide back down to the top of the car. He was just about to grab onto the side of the steering wheel to steady himself, but the winds pushed him back to the bottom of the car, crashing into it again, the car swinging around in circles causing him to be flung across the entire car, instinctively clawing at the air for something to grab, but ultimately failing as the harsh winds were just too fast for him.
After a few more rounds of being flung around in the car, suddenly, the door that had crashed into and damaged from the chase he had been in weeks earlier tore off effortlessly, sent flying up into the storm.
Gasping out, Bryson was completely shocked. It was as if an airplane door had been opened, pencils flying out from the floorboard and soaring off with the green twister.
Soon after, Bryson looked down to see his backpack was still in the car and it began shaking, soon sliding out quickly out of the car before Bryson gasped and crawled over quickly around in the floor to reach out and catch it just as it began to fly out of the car, yanking it back into the car. "Hah! Ah, got ya..." he panted out, before gasping once more when he felt himself begin to be pulled by the currents of the harsh winds.
"Woah!" He cried out in response, feeling himself lose control of his own body.
It was a surreal feeling, having his body pulled on so harshly by the winds, like he had no control over it now. He had never experienced anything like this and he wondered what would happen to his body at the hand of the intense winds.
Grunting, he hurriedly grabbed his backpack, gripping the bag as tightly as he could and flinging it across his shoulder. He couldn't lose it and knew if it was on his body he was at less chance of it being carried away by the tornado.
Feeling himself being dragged out the car door by the wind, he scraped at the floor, but his actions were futile as suddenly the winds had a harsher effect on his body, causing him to gasp and groan out, being pulled in by the current, clinging to the floorboard but to no avail.
As he slid down the vehicle, he clung to the side, his legs sticking out of the car, his feet feeling the howling winds of the twister and giving him an idea of just how furious the storm was.
His arm trembled because of how hard it was to keep it steady with the winds, inching towards the seat of the car, reaching further and further to try and latch onto the seat but suddenly, the winds sent him flying away from the car.
Bryson screamed out in shock, his hands frailing around on instinct for something to catch in this green void, and as he looked on at the sight surrounding him, he gasped once more.
He was now quite literally floating inside a green void, and now instead of screaming and frailing his limbs around in a desperate, frightful mess, he was just looking on in awe.
Being inside a giant tornado like this was so strange.
For a few moments, time was going in slow motion.
And in those few moments, he looked around in wonder, staying there almost floating for a second.
Subconciously, he stuck his arms out a bit and leaned his head back to get a feel of the wind surrounding him, closing his eyes for a split second as he just stayed there, feeling as if he was flying.
He smiled a little, but soon the winds once again picked up and he was sent flying around within the cyclone.
"Ah!" He gasped out in surprise again, and suddenly his body was spinning around inside the cyclone.
The sound was defeaning to his ears, and while he tried to lift his hands to cover them, it proved to be impossible with the tornado surrounding him and spinning him around.
"Woah, woah, woah!" He yelped out as he frailed his arms around some more, beginning to grow a bit dizzy and disorientated as he spun around, his heart racing and growing increasingly dumbstruck at the fact he was inside a tornado.
He panted, desperately trying to stop himself in the cyclone, tensing his body up in an attempt to try and stop it from shaking so much, but he was ultimately yanked over by a sudden current in the wind.
"Aaaaaaah!" He yelped out once more as he was quickly jerked over into another direction, circling around the green twister.
There was nothing else in sight, it was as if he was just flying around in a mysterious void.
Before he could gawk at it any further, he felt the winds pick up, swishing him and forcing him to fly in another direction.
He wondered briefly when this whole thing would end. It had only been a few moments, but it felt as if it was going on forever.
Just when he thought it was all hopeless, he saw a large object seemingly phase through the twister.
Confused, he squinted at the sight as it slowly came into view.
His mouth went agape when he realized just how large the object was, but his confusion only intensified when he saw exactly just what it was.
It was a piece of his college.
Specifically, the area he had fled from. The section of the building where Professor Walker's classroom was located.
"What?!" He gasped out, ready to duck down and avoid impact from the building floating around in the twister, frailing his arms about before the winds picked up again and swished him straight towards the building.
Yelping out, he ducked and put his arms around him to cover himself, thinking he was about to crash into the building before suddenly, the door yanked open within the wind and he was flown into the building, flying in in a quick motion and crashing into one of the book cases in the classroom.
"Ah!" He grunted out, feeling a sharp pain in his back from the impact, tumbling down onto the floor with books falling out and landing on him, piling onto him.
Grumbling and slowly rising from the books now piled onto his body, he dusted himself off a bit, trying to sit up, scooting back against the book shelf so he could try and take everything in, looking around the room in shock, panting and looking around. "M... Mr. Walker?!" He exclaimed out, eyes scanning around the room. He had no idea if his Professor was still in this room, or if so, if he was even okay, but he had to make sure.
There were desks, pens, pencils, trash cans, pieces of paper, and various other familar objects Bryson knew of floating away from Mr. Walker's room and zipping into the cyclone. Seeing the class he had grown used to staying in for months on end now being destroyed in such a fashion dumbfounded him, his mouth wide open.
Panting against the book shelf, he realized Walker probably wasn't here. He leaned back, trying to pause and make sense of the situation, before suddenly he could see another figure in the distance of the twister. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any more insane, the dark shape growing larger and larger.
And then he realized what it was.
A random small house swishing through the twister that seemed to be spinning closer and closer in his direction.
The house almost seemed as if it was from another era, almost too old to be anything in his area of California.
He had no time to think of it, however, as the house kept spinning faster and faster in his direction.
It seemed as if the house would crash into the school at any moment, causing Bryson to gasp and stumble over, crawling quickly away, slowly making his way up, his legs trembling, falling over once more as it was hard to stand up or stay steady with the rapid winds of the twister.
He looked back, grunting and noticing the house was mere inches away, gasping and crawling away faster and more and more rapidly, jumping on instinct when he suddenly felt the house crashing into the building he was in, the other half of it that Bryson had just escaped from crumbling off instantly, objects from the building flying off, books from the book shelf flying down rapidly off into the twister, swirling around with the rest of the classroom objects, looking down to see debris of the house fall into the twister, the random house now completely destroyed.
Looking beside him, Bryson realized he now had less room and was exposed to the twister once again with half of the inside of the building torn off.
Taking cover, Bryson looked on, spotting another book shelf in the corner of the room.
He crawled over to it quickly, intimidated by the loud, thunderous sounds of the twister. He didn't look like a real torando, but it surely felt and sounded like one.
As he made his way over to the book shelf, he could hear an object soaring towards him.
Gasping once more, he ducked as a desk that had had been carried off away from the storm crashed into the building, falling over onto the floor.
Panting, Bryson paused, recollecting himself and looking down at the desk before quickly crawling away in a hurry to the book shelf, gasping in relief when he found it, reaching out to grab it and steady himself against it, leaning his head against it and backing up against it.
This book shelf was located in the very corner of the now half torn off floating classroom, Bryson gulping as he shielded himself from the twister, lifting up his ears to cover them, his body tucked away as he watched the objects swirling around within the green tornado, including debris of the house, the rest of the classroom, and his car still swirling around as well.
He decided to just keep himself there, his body lodged between the shelves surrounding him, feeling safer in the corner and deciding he wouldn't be hurt as long as he stayed like this.
If he was going where he thought he was, this would all prove to be worth it.
For several more minutes he stayed like that, curled up in the corner, being uncharacteristically calm for someone who was inside a tornado, but with what he had experienced in his life, this didn't feel like quite as scary a situation as it would to most.
His calmness only halted again when suddenly, the walls of the building crumbled and Bryson snapped over, gasping when he saw his car had been swished and jerked around until it smashed into a farther side of the building.
The building didn't break off any more, but the car stayed wedged in between the holes it had made within the building, balancing like that in the building.
Bryson shook his head at the sight, a bit perplexed at what he was seeing.
He clung his hand to the side of the wall to try and keep himself inside, gulping as suddenly, the twister began circling around in a quick and rapid motion.
Feeling the intense change of pace, Bryson yelped out and tightened his grip along the wall.
Just when he had gotten used to the pace of the tornado, it got faster than ever, spinning at a now ridiculous speed.
Bryson had never been in something that was so fast, his head was spinning and he started to feel light headed, his eyes growing hazy as he sucked in his lip, the twister spinning around in fast, rapid circles.
But then, the green twister slowly started to fade away as it got faster.
It was as if the green void he was in was being replaced by white.
Astonished, Bryson's eyes grew wide again, looking down in disbelief as the swirls went faster and faster, suddenly disappearing into thin air as each swirl got faster and suddenly vanished, all the objects that had been caught flying around in circles now falling out of the twister.
Bryson suddenly felt the intense presence of the howling wind carrying him fade and within one last single swoop of the wind, was pushed a bit further in the air.
As the green swirls cleared, he was now faced in nothing but the white color... he was... surrounded by.. clouds?
He was seemingly floating in the air, caught in a fog. He could hardly see anything, all he knew for sure was that he was still in his piece of the floating classroom, car still lodged inside.
He floated for a few seconds before out of nowhere, the building was suddenly free falling out of the sky.
At this point, his stomach had gone light and his whole body felt uneasy, the fall being quick with no signs of stopping.
"Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Bryson holored out as he began free falling, the wind swishing past his face as he stayed clung to the book case, hiding his face in it and squeezing his eyes shut. The feeling was quite exhilarating, admittedly, but also scary. Never before had he fallen from such a height, feeling thankful that he was at least protected in the building, but he knew if he didn't stop soon he wouldn't be so lucky when he inevitably fell to the ground.
Biting down hard on his lip, he swallowed hard. He opened his eyes, completely focused around the corner of his room, searching for something he could use to escape, but he was having no luck. He didn't know how his landing would work. Last time he was carried by a tornado, he was passed out for the whole flight, but he had made it essentially unscathed. He could only hope it would play out in a similar manner this time, deciding if it didn't he would just face death like a man. It was his own fault for being drawn to the twister and not putting in 100% effort to escape, he thought briefly to himself.
As the building continued to plummet with no signs of stopping, Bryson squeezed his eyes shut once more, still surrounded by the fog, completely ready to meet the ground with a hard thud, before suddenly..
The building stopped.
Bryson paused.
"Huh?" Bryson huffed, opening one eye just a little.
It was as if he had been stopped in mid air.
Before he could fully open his eyes and question it, the building was sent free flying downward again.
"Ah, woah!"
Just a few moments later, he was met with a loud, thunderous, booming crash.
Bryson was suddenly thrown upwards, falling over a few feet away from his original stance, his face now buried into the floorboard.
The entire experience met with the intense crash was too much for him and seconds after, he passed out again.
...
The first thing he had heard when he woke up was the sound of birds chirping and rustling through what sounded like bushes.
It caused him to roll over, staying on the floor for a few seconds before slowly standing up, his legs wobbling, having to lean over and grab the at the wall to get himself up and steady himself, kicking out books from the floor after the book case had fallen over.
He shook his head, his vision blurry for a split second before returning.
He had felt so shaken up, but something about the atmosphere seemed bright and made him feel.. radiant.
There was just this sort of feeling that made him feel.. happy. More happy than he had felt in at least a year.
He realized he needed to get out of the broken in half building.
Looking over, he realized the part of the building that had broken off was pressed against some sort of dark, brown substance, leaving him trapped there.
Gasping, he looked around, noticing his car still lodged into the side.
He looked around curiously before spotting his backpack on the hardwood floor of the building, a floor that had been cracked and seemed to be showing off the dark brown substance under it.
He was relieved to see his backpack had made it through the storm, leaning down to pick it up and slowly hoist it over his shoulders.
Next, his eyes scanned around the room for an escape, before looking up and noticing the roof was barely intact with the building, a small crack shining sunlight through the building.
Now that he had a way to escape, he leaned down, lifting up the book case and beginning to climb it slowly, reaching for the roof, fiddling with it for a second before finding the crack, slowly moving it to the side, struggling as he climbed upward, slowly climbing out of the building, lifting up the roof and setting it aside, sitting on top of the roof.
What he saw in front of him caused an instant surge of disbelief.
He didn't know how to react.
His eyes had to be playing tricks on him, he told himself.
Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head and did a double take.
A lump formed in his throat.
His head, for a split second, felt like it was spinning.
But it came to a halt soon.
It felt like.. peace.
He didn't even need to ask questions.
He had done far too much of that for the past few years.
No, not this time.
He was going to let this happen. He wouldn't let his confusion plauge him this time.
He woud relish in the fact he was.. here.
In front of him there was a bright sunlight shining down that just contributed to the natural light in the bright blue skies.
And just like the song said, just like he had remembered, the skies really were so blue.
So much blue, and so intense: the blue of the sky, the blue of the blue birds chirping in the distance and flying around the lush green bushes.
There's so many flowers, Bryson thought. Of all shapes and sizes.
Some are pink, some are purple, some are all colors of the rainbow.
There was a waterfall in the distance, too, he noticed. But the water was.. colorful, almost as if it too is all the colors of the rainbow mixed in with the clearness of the water.
Gardens surrounded the area, more plant life at every angle.
The view and the sensation consumed him, feeling butterflies in his stomach as he scanned the area.
The whole aroma is completely different now, he thought to himself.
Gone was any sense of dread, of greyness. The dreary feeling wrapped around him for so long had now been replaced with sunshine and rainbows, a pure and jolly sort of feeling, the feeling that everything was going to be okay. And it was all just from looking at the sight in front of him.
What got him the most, however, was the sight of the trees below, the familar pattern assorted with yellow bricks, bright and beaming right at him.
The Yellow Brick Road.
Oz.
Oz.
He was back in Oz!
He had known as soon as he got out of the building, but seeing that old familar road was what made him truly understand and believe it.
Once more he shook his head, a blissul smile slowly spreading across his face.
He... was back.
He was really back.
He had been dreaming of this moment for years.
How could this happen again?
He felt almost too lucky.
His body felt as if it was buzzing and vibrating from the sheer excitement he was feeling and he didn't know what to do with himself.
He slowly pushed his body backwards, bumping himself against a hard substance, turning around and realizing where exactly he was at.
The building had landed on a tree, it seemed. Specifically on a branch. An unnaturally large branch, so thick in size that there was still a little room left on the branch even with the small building perched on it.
He smiled at even that, appreciating even the smallest of eccentricities of the land as he looked back out and this time got a full look at the land in front of him.
He was in a forested area, but it wasn't very deep, plenty of blue sky in his view.
He looked down again and noticed he was fairly high up in the tree, giving him a good view of the land from the high angle.
And from up there, he could see it all.
There were so many lovely colorful glades, rivers, and open meadows everywhere he turned. From up here, he could see it all.
Fields and deep vales filled with many different types of attractive flowers, buttercups and tropical plants. Numerous little brooks of clear cold sparkling water running through the grassy banks of greensward and florescent birds and colorful butterflies all seen fluttering in the bushes and flying from tree to tree, many of the trees and bushes all baring colorful and ripe fruits that looked delicious, all mere inches away from each other. If one were to be standed or lost in the land, it seemed they would never go hungry. All the resources they would need were right here.
This was not like Earth, no, this was the ultimate utopia, Bryson thought.
He stayed up in that tree for at least an hour, not knowing what to do with himself aside from just sit and take it all in.
He had that exact same magical feeling from when he was 14 years old, when he had first arrived here.
Feeling it again.. it was something he had longed for, something he had tried to recreate numerous times.. with his old girlfriend, by moving to California... but nothing ever recaptured that spark.
But there it was again, shining clearly through the butterflies running rampant in his stomach.
It was an unexplainable feeling.
He could stay there in that tree forever, he thought to himself.
He had no idea how he got here, and if he was being honest with himself, he didn't care all that much, at least not at the moment. It was best not to question such a miracle.
He closed his eyes, resting against the tree like that for a long while.
Then, suddenly, he had a thought.
Opening up his eyes, he looked around.
It was still there.
"It's real..." he stated, his voice shaky, a grin spreading across his lips.
"Oz..." he repeated. "It's real!"
The question that had plauged him for five years had been answered!
"Oz is real!" He exclaimed, looking down at the area surrounding him.
He realized he couldn't simply stay here in the tree anymore.
He had to say hello to this land.
It was like seeing an old friend again.
Not only did he feel vindicated, he felt relieved knowing this was real.
Deep down, he knew the whole time. But the complete confirmation was what he needed.
Knowing he couldn't wait any longer, he looked behind him and in a hurry, thought of a way to get out of the tree.
A beam staying on his face, he crawled over to the edge of the tree, wrapping his arms around it and letting himself free fall, sliding down the tree with a bit of ease, jumping off and looking up, deciding he could figure out the whole situation with the building later.
He had no time to worry about that now.
All he cared about in that moment was Oz.
He looked at the tree he had just gotten himself out of and reached out to slowly touch it.
Upon contact with the tree, he grinned.
In that moment, he realized he could just reach out and touch it. Anything. The land was right here in front of him and he could physically touch anything.
Overwhelmed with excitement, Bryson kept a wide grin on his face and began to sprint through his surroundings, running through the fields, the gardens, all of the grass and looking around to admire all the flowers around him.
He ran around like he was a kid again, falling over and surrounding himself with the grass, letting himself be covered with it as he laughed out loud.
He could see the waterfall in the distance and in a hurry, he sprinted over to it, crossing over, admiring each new sight he was witness to, reaching out to let the water fall against his hand.
He laughed, as happy as ever, running around more of the fields, his cheery tone matching perfectly with the sound of the chirping birds.
He spent at least another half hour just running across the landscape, in complete bliss before he noticed the Yellow Brick Road right across from him.
Seeing it just a few feet from him sent shivers up his spine and he grinned, knowing what part of the area he had to see next.
Sprinting over, he laughed gleefully as he ran from the grass and stopped dead in his tracks as he was now just an inch away from the Yellow Brick Road.
It had been five years since he had stepped foot onto the magic road, the feeling causing his heart to flutter once more, slowly letting his feet reach out and touch the yellow bricks.
He let out a sigh as both feet were not onto the Yellow Brick Road.
He looked ahead of him and he suddenly felt more optimistic then he had been in so long.
Standing on these bricks after so long was just such a strange feeling to him, but it felt so right, as if he belonged right there on them.
Looking onward, he was just about to make his first step.
He was going to venture off onto the Yellow Brick Road and see where it took him.
He didn't know where it led, he just knew he belonged on the road, that it was the trail that would lead him down the path he needed to be on.
"This is it... this is really it.." he said to himself in disbelief, beaming. "Here we go again."
Closing his eyes, he prepared to make his first step, more than ready to begin his walk until he heard a strange, robotic voice.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"
...
A/N: Hello everyone, hope you all had a good holiday since the last chapter.
I'm very excited to be writing Oz again, and I hope you're just as excited about reading it.
Thanks so much for reading.